School of Fine Art,
History of Art and
Cultural Studies
FACULTY OF PERFORMANCE, VISUAL
ARTS AND COMMUNICATIONS
MA CRITICAL
AND CULTURAL
THEORY
MA Critical and Cultural Theory offers new critical
perspectives, interdisciplinary insights and a vast spectrum
of applications and opportunities. This degree emphasises
the theoretical, philosophical and historical aspects of work
in cultural criticism, reception and production.
Founded in 1987 (as MA Cultural Studies), this programme appeals to students from
across the humanities who are thinking about and working with a broad range of
objects and genres including literature, film and the visual arts, performance, music,
and philosophy. We draw upon the major traditions of cultural theory, including
semiology, deconstruction, feminism, psychoanalysis and Frankfurt School theories of
the aesthetic, the media and technology. This intensive training enables students to
shape their thinking critically and to situate and develop their interests in a rigorously
analytical context. These theoretical and historical perspectives allow us to tease out
the critical charge embedded in the notion of culture itself, and the transformative
potential of creative and critical work in the arts and humanities.
WHO SHOULD TAKE THE COURSE?
As the course has developed and intensified its theoretical
approach, it has attracted students from the UK and beyond,
from a range of disciplines across the humanities, whose
orientations and ambitions are academic. It has now produced
several generations of graduates who have gone on to
successful university careers. From the beginning, the degree
has been popular among people professionally involved in
cultural work: artists, arts administrators, teachers at all levels,
actors, directors, curators, and journalists, to whom it offers
new critical perspectives, interdisciplinary insights and a wide
spectrum of applications and opportunities. The degree’s
location in a School with an ambitious interdisciplinary project,
an active Fine Art programme, a critically and politically
engaged History of Art programme and a dynamic Museum
Studies programme is crucially important, and yet the course
is not organised primarily around an interrogation of aesthetics
or the ‘artistic’ object.
COURSE CONTENT
A core module in Cultural Theory offers an introduction to key
paradigms, focusing on theories of the commodity, language,
discourse, subjectivity and sexuality. The second core module,
in Cultural History, explores the genealogies of contemporary
theory in relation to a longer tradition of cultural criticism that
emerged with modernity itself. It also considers the ways
in which theoretical engagement complicates and enriches
historiographical and comparative perspectives. Emphasis is
given to practices of close reading, the question of textuality,
and the case study.
SEMESTER 1
nCultural
nOptional
Theory (core)
Module
SEMESTER 2
nCultural
nOptional
History (core)
Module
nDissertation
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Enquiries are invited from students who already hold an
upper second or first class degree or equivalent professional
experience in a relevant subject area.
Candidates whose first language is not English must provide
evidence that their English language is sufficient to meet the
demands of their study. In particular, we require one of the
following qualifications:
(12-15,000 words)
The dissertation, supported by formal research training, enables
students to engage in an extended research and writing project
on a subject developed during the course of their study.
The degree is offered on a full time or a part time basis.
Full time study takes place over one calendar year
For more detailed information about the course structure and the
content of both core and optional modules, please visit
http://www.fine-art.leeds.ac.uk/pg/ma-critical-and-cultural-theory/
1.An IELTS Band Score of 6.5 overall, 6.5 in writing,
6.5 in speaking and not less than 6.0 reading and listening
2 Internet Based TOEFL scores of 92 overall, 23 in writing,
24 in speaking, 21 in reading and 21 in listening
Applicants with a lower IELTS score may be eligible for entry
provided they successfully complete the University’s
6 or 10 week Pre-sessional English Language course.
Information about the course can be found on the
Language Centre pages of the University website.
www.leeds.ac.uk/languages
Contact: Taught Postgraduate Admissions Team
Tel: +44 (0)113 343 5274
Email: [email protected]
School of Fine Art, History of Art
and Cultural Studies
University of Leeds
Leeds, United Kingdom
LS2 9JT
t 0113 343 5274
f 0113 245 1977
e [email protected]
w www.leeds.ac.uk/fine_art